Just one look at the books this Spanish design duo have picked and you know they mean business. Their choice of exhibition catalogues and functional typographic bibles reveal a lot about how Córdova – Canillas work. They themselves declare that their studio’s approach is “defined by a collaborative network that allows them to integrate graphic design, art direction, photography, communication and strategy to develop projects for commercial and institutional clients focused in contemporary culture.” Wowzah! Read on to get very inspired, very quickly.

Marc Bauer: Marc Bauer

Marc Bauer: Marc Bauer

The swiss born Marc Bauer is one of our favorite artists. His drawings are the perfect balance between punk and elegance.

Cyprien Gaillard: The Recovery of Discovery

Cyprien Gaillard: The Recovery of Discovery

One of our favorite installations is The Recovery of Discovery by Cyprien Gaillard at the KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin. This is a really beautiful catalogue for a really sexy art installation.

Martino Gamper: 100 Chairs in 100 Days

Martino Gamper: 100 Chairs in 100 Days

Something great happened when Martino Gamper presented this exhibition at London’s Design Museum. The people from Åbäke took the exhibition and transformed it into a kind of catalogue. They have made a contemporary classic.

Vitra: The Home Collection, 2006

Vitra: The Home Collection, 2006

For us this is a fantastic reference for art direction and design. This catalogue changed the way people looked at art direction and content management. They were the first to include lifestyle photography in a luxury brand. Perfect photography and a really nice selection of typefaces and papers.

Swiss Federal Design Grants, 2006

Swiss Federal Design Grants, 2006

We have a special affection for this book, we bought it when we were students. For us it was a bible of contemporary graphic design. We discovered the Akkurat typeface designed by Laurenz Brunner and from it we learnt to love a simple and clean way of design.

Cynthia Pratomo is a creative director at creative consultancy Wolff Olins in New York. She was previously head of design at Anomaly, and is also a professor of design at the Pratt Institute where she helps students understand and combine their disciplinary powers across illustration, advertising and graphic design. “I always encourage my students to get off the internet and start their book collection early. At Pratt, when my seniors present similar references and influences for a project, they quickly discover the cycle of repetition in the design community,” says Cynthia.

Illustrator and cartoonist Nadine Redlich is known for her ability to distil witty one-liners and punchlines through sophisticated four-panelled comics and single character studies. Tapping into universal feelings such as embarrassment, worry and confusion, Nadine has published several books including Ambient Comics, Ambient Comics II, and Paniktotem last autumn.

DR.ME is a creative studio we’ve celebrated many times over the years. Known for creating work with its hands, the studio’s collage-based design has inspired many. Made up of Ryan Doyle (DR) and Mark Edwards (ME), the pair met on their first day at university at Manchester School of Art.

London-based design agency Studio Output works with brands to deliver a range of creative services including strategy, design, content, experiential and production. It’s worked with the BBC, Pottermore, YouTube, Penguin Random House and Sony Music among many others.

New York-based Steven Heller is an art director, author and editor who is known for his expertise in graphic design. For 33 years he was an art director at The New York Times, and is currently co-chair of the MFA Designer as Author and Entrepreneur Department at the School of Visual Arts, and also writes The Daily Heller for Print magazine. Among many other design and publishing achievements, Steven has been the author, co-author or editor of over 170 books on design and popular culture, most recently The Moderns by Abrams Books and The Typography Idea Book written with Gail Anderson.

Designer and illustrator Steph Davidson currently works at Bloomberg as a web designer and art director creating visuals for its digital channels. Steph’s portfolio is full of funny and clever illustrations, gifs and collaged pieces, that play upon internet trends, news stories and current affairs.